Loving our marginalized brothers and sisters as the Savior loved

After spending 19 years as a prisoner, Jean Valjean, one of the lead characters in Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables, is released from jail. “Exhausted by a long voyage and dying of hunger and thirst, he arrives in a small town seeking a place to find food and shelter for the night. When the news...

‘some of it true, some of it false, and much of it partially true’

When God established a principle in the Bible, he did so with two or three witnesses. In 2 Corinthians 13, and similarly in Matthew 18, it says: “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” The gospels are a perfect example of this. Matthew, Mark and Luke were all witnesses...

Making ‘family time’ a priority

Do you have regrets? I always wanted to be the person who said no to that question. No regrets. But do I? Probably. I wish I would’ve done this. Or I probably shouldn’t have done that. I’m not sure I really even like that question, though, or the idea of it. Life is a journey,...

Are we missing the whole point?

We sat down at a corner table in Pizza Planet and began eating a late lunch. It was Christmas Eve, our first day at Disney World, and the restaurant was buzzing not unlike the scene from Toy Story. This trip was our Christmas present, but I had struggled with knowing that so many employees were...

Overcoming fear, shame & judging: mental illness, an inspired program & becoming a Mormon missionary

I wasn't sure this day would ever come. There's a lot of anxiety and worry that accompanies being the parent of a child with a mental illness. On one end are things like: will he be able to make friends and how will he manage school (I didn't think he'd ever survive elementary school. I'm...

Why I no longer volunteer

What's really happening ... is not always obvious on the surface. I was recently asked to volunteer for something, and when I declined, I quickly felt the judgmental stares and gossiping whispers from the group directed toward me. I don't volunteer anymore. At least not in the way most people want me to. I don't...

Two brothers and a total eclipse

As awe-inspiring and amazing as the Total Solar Eclipse was on Monday (and it truly was here in Missouri in the path of totality), I'd like to tell another story of the eclipse. It's the story of my husband and his brother who hadn't seen each other in nearly a decade. But let me back...

Sacrifice in marriage: ‘giving up something good for something of far greater worth’

So ... I was asked again the other day about this ... ... the beard ... my husband’s beard ... No, I do not like my husband’s beard. I hate it, actually. I hate the hair in our bathroom sink and on my pillow. I hate not being able to touch his clean-shaven face or...

‘when sensible children turn scatter-brained or start having wild mood swings’

So I have a “friend” … Her oldest child recently turned 18 and is getting ready to graduate high school in less than two months. And she’s starting to freak out feeling like she hasn’t prepared him enough yet for adulthood.     Okay, yes, it’s me, not some friend. Somewhere around January 3rd, it hit...

‘No one is born hating another person’

The movie “42” tells the story of Jackie Robinson who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947. One of the most heartbreaking scenes is when a young, white boy and his father attend a Brooklyn Dodgers game, and as Robinson takes the field, the father starts screaming, “hey nigger, we don’t want...